Senior Scottish police officers have accused prosecutors at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) of treating them like "servants" and interfering excessively in criminal investigations, in fallout from the Operation Branchform inquiry into SNP finances that saw former party chief executive Peter Murrell jailed for embezzling over £400,000. Research by former Police Scotland superintendent Martin Gallagher, published in Policing Insight, reveals long-standing tensions between the two bodies, raising questions about who effectively controls major criminal investigations in Scotland and prompting Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Stephen Kerr to demand more transparency from the SNP.

Gallagher's research draws on interviews with recently retired senior officers with a combined 300-plus years of experience, several of whom described the police-prosecutor relationship as a "master and servant" dynamic rather than a partnership, with one calling it "subordinate, domineering and one-sided". Officers said Crown Office involvement had become increasingly intrusive in high-profile cases through "advice and guidance" reports, blurring the traditional divide between police investigation and prosecutorial decision-making, and some claimed COPFS staff were dismissive of police expertise. The findings coincide with continued criticism over the decision not to prosecute former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who was investigated but not charged during Branchform; it is understood officers wanted to re-interview her after she gave a written statement but did not do so following discussions with COPFS.